Gunning For You
by thisisnotmybeautifulhouse
Summary: A modern Castle-inspired AU wherein Merlin has his magic, but he uses it to protect Homicide Detective Arthur Pendragon, and to find the time in the day to write more for his next murder mystery.
1. Gunning For You

As Arthur sat listening to the soulless beeps and blips of the medical equipment strewn about the claustrophobic room, he thought about the events which had led him here.

Day One  
_His haphazard partner bounded into the precinct and up to his desk, setting two cups of coffee and a bag from a dive called 'Dino's' down with an enthusiastic 'fwoosh'. The smell of fresh eggs – made from scratch – and bacon wafted from the bag, melding with the invigorating scent of piping hot coffee, made just the way he liked it._

___"I hear we've a bit of a mystery on our hands, Pendragon." Arthur looked up into his partner's impish cobalt blue gaze and fought an exasperated smile. A young man had just been killed; Arthur's mirth was… inappropriate. Inappropriate, and inevitable. _

Day Two  
_"You know," Gwaine began tentatively – a rarity for the free-spirited officer – "there's beginning to be a bit of a pattern, and I'm not sure I like what I see." Arthur could understand the sentiment. On the board in front of them were the photos of three young men, each strikingly similar in appearance and personality. Tall. Thin to the point of appearing gaunt. Dark brown or black hair. Blue eyes. Pale, almost translucent skin. Rather eclectic tastes in clothing. A fondness for scarves in vivid hues. Artistic._

___Arthur's eyes rose unwillingly to meet his partner's, and he felt genuine fear for the first time since he lost his first partner, Morris, in an arrest gone horribly, tragically wrong. _

Day Three  
_"I don't care what you want, you are going to go home, and you are going to take security with you. I want you off this case." Fathomless blue eyes belied betrayal._

___"I can take care of myself, Arthur, you know I can. Why are you doing this?" _Because I have to protect you. Because you're all I have left. Because that could have been you that girl found this morning.

_"Go home, Merlin."_

Day Four  
_Arthur watched his partner crumple to the ground in paralyzed horror. He wasn't even supposed to be here. How could he be here? Those officers had been instructed to keep him safe at all costs._

___He looked back at the bullets which Merlin had been able to stop from harming Arthur, that had distracted him from the bullet which flew toward his own unprotected back. He would give anything for those bullets to have found their mark, so that the one currently lodged in his partner's lower back would be on the ground, harmless, instead. _


	2. By His Side

He rested his hand on the side of his partner's pale face, rubbing his thumb over the sharp cheekbone, and felt the first stirring of hope since he had watched Merlin fall. His eyelids had flickered. Arthur just knew it, because the only alternative was loss-driven insanity, and that was a reality he simply refused to face.

_There_ – another flicker!

He should pull his hand away, should rebuild the wall he kept between them to protect his heart. But no – keeping Merlin away was what started this mess, wasn't it? If he had not sent his partner away with a protection detail, then the ridiculous man would never have felt the need to work alone. If Merlin had been by his side, as he always was, then they could have protected each other.

As too-blue eyes at last fluttered open, Arthur vowed to never distance himself from his partner again.


	3. Let Fear Not Tear Us Asunder

An inky black head of hair came into his peripheral vision just as an angular chin came to rest upon his shoulder. Wait for it…

"So are we ever actually going do anything interesting, or are we going to be stuck here doing paperwork from now on?" Eyebrow raised, Arthur continued to read through the file before him, signing off on evidence which was destined for a home in the archives. He was not entirely certain that a purple rubber band and a pack of chewing gum found on a young Jane Doe counted as evidence – DNA could only help if someone was in the system, and the hair sample from the rubber band was definitely not – but in the archive they would go. "Right. Are we going to actually talk about this, or not?" Item number … _"Arthur!"_

"Yes, fine, Merlin. What exactly do you want to discuss?" If he sounded clueless and disinterested, was there any chance that his infuriating partner would let the matter drop?

No, of _course_ not.

"How about the fact that I've been fully healed for the last two weeks, and the most exciting thing that's happened since then was that cup of coffee I spilled on you yesterday? Can we talk about _that_?" Arthur was very much tempted to say that no, they could not talk about that, but he knew his partner and this was something that they would have to face – that Arthur would have to face – sooner or later. The resolution he made at Merlin's bedside in the hospital, as his eyes opened for the first time in the week following the arrest of the serial killer, had manifested rather differently than he had expected once his partner's doctor declared the other man ready to resume his usual shenanigans. He had taken to staying behind during investigations and doing research, keeping his partner firmly glued to his side. The irrepressible writer had begun acting twitchy within two days of Arthur's newfound love for scrounging through the archives and making phone calls, and the homicide detective could admit that he might have gone a little overboard in his attempts to keep Merlin perpetually in sight.

"… I'm sorry." There. He'd said it. Those two little words which most of the time stuck in his throat like molasses. "I know that I'm being… slightly overprotective. And that I shouldn't be punishing you for something that's my fault." Two cobalt eyes stared at him uncomprehending.

"Your fault? How is any of this your fault?" I pushed you away, he did not say. I separated us at the time when we needed to be together the most.

"Well, I should have known that an idiot like you couldn't possibly understand such simple orders as, '_Stay put_,' but I had such high hopes." There, that sounded suitably aloof and devoid of emotion. Maybe he could come out of this conversation with his image intact after all. The wounded look on his partner's face said otherwise.

"You don't trust me anymore?" _What?_

"_What?_" How on earth the man made these fantastic leaps of logic, Arthur would never know. "How could you possibly think that? Merlin, you took a bullet saving my neck – of course I trust you! I just. I just worry about you." So, it was out there now. There was no taking it back or laughing it off.

"Arthur, I'll be fine – I am fine! What happened in that warehouse – that was a one-time thing. This sitting around scrolling through files and filling out paperwork? It's not you, Arthur. You need to be out there, getting your hands dirty, getting justice for the dead and peace for the people they leave behind in the best way you know how. And you need to take me with you." Arthur stared at his partner, deeply moved by his passionate appeal and convicted in the way that Merlin knew him better than he knew himself. Such honest affection could not be answered with anything less than utter sincerity.

"You're right. The next time we get a call, we'll be out there. Together." The brilliant smile this brought forth was worth a bit of fear and more than a few sleepless nights.

"Say it again." Now he was pushing it.

"You're right?"

"No. That last part." _Oh._

"You and me, out there. Together." Arthur was saved from further emotional declarations by the eager approach of Lothian and Galois.

"Double homicide behind that seedy little pub on Merryton's Street –sounds particularly nasty. Leon's already down there examining the bodies. You want me and Perce to head over there?" Lothian coached that last part almost as though it was a foregone conclusion, but glancing at his partner out of the corner of his eye, Arthur knew it was time for things to change.

"No. I believe there is some paperwork here that has both of your names on it. Merlin and I will go." He decided he would ignore the delighted and relieved looks which passed between his fellow officers, choosing instead to grab his coat and head toward the elevator, his partner's shoulder brushing against his the whole way.


End file.
